Spike's POV...
After repelling Matt's attack, I used my normal arm to throw him to the nearest coconut dome. He resisted, but I got the better grip.
As he went crashing, Beatilia looked on in shock, while Dumpty still had his emotionless expression.
But his brow raised a bit. It wasn't much, but it was enough to show he was interested.
I don't know why, but I had a particular interest in him.
King, on the other hand, was trying to explain to Oc what we were doing there.
"So you're here to stop your gang from destroying this village. That I get. But who the hell is he?" She said, pointing at me.
She pissed me off already, and I don't even know her.
"He's Spike Dogtooth" King said, answering her question.
"So? What the hell is that supposed to mean?! Is he some kind of dog-man superhero? I thought those dog people stayed clear of this sector of the galaxy!"
Somehow, she pissed me off even more.
"Listen, girl! Spike Dogtooth, future mob boss, at your service," I said as I held out my hand for a handshake.
Only for her to stare at me with a raised eyebrow. At this point, even if she offered her hand, I'd bite it.
"D..did I hear that right? Future mob boss?" She said with an annoyingly sly grin.
The DonDon gang members began to stare at me, too. What could it mean?
Eh, probably scared, I bet.
King opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.
"Yep! I'm gonna be a Mob Boss! Not just that, I'm gonna be the most powerful criminal the gala...no...the universe has ever known!"
After saying that, all I was met with was a loud silence.
Then an even louder burst of laughter.
Not just from Oc, but Matt and Beastilia. The only ones not laughing hysterically were King, who looked too embarrassed to laugh, and Dumpty, whose blank face continued to confuse me.
I get why the others were laughing. I know it's a crazy dream, but it's my dream nonetheless. At least King had the courtesy to avoid laughing.
But what about Dumpty? Why didn't he laugh?
Suddenly, Dumpty raised his arm, and just like that, the laughing stopped.
All that followed was another round of deafening silence. Even Oc was quiet. Why? Who was this blank, skinny guy? How could he command such authority?
"You fools laugh like our boss' dream isn't as idiotic. Now let's focus on the task at hand," he said to his fellow gang members, who could only look down in shame.
Who the hell was this guy?!
"Hey, you!" He shouted at me, and even I had to admit, I was a little intimidated. Not something to be proud of, I know.
"Judging by not only your presence, but King's presence as well, I can conclude that my brother failed to eliminate him, right?"
"Actually..." King tried to say but was cut off by Dumpty's intense glare.
"Oh! You mean the egg guy! Yeah. I killed him. Lost an arm, though, as you can see. He was your brother, huh? Too bad I don't care."
As soon as I said that, everyone looked at me in shock. Bucketloads of sweat poured off their faces.
Especially King.
"Hmmm. You're an interesting guy. I can see why you allied with him, King. Too bad you're all gonna die."
I tried to give a comeback, but before I could speak...
He was right in front of me.
"So I'm assuming you're the guy we chucked into the planet's core, eh? Well, that probably means the Lizardian is yours?" He said as he touched my shoulder lightly, like we were best friends or something.
I was livid.
And for the first time in a long time, I was scared.
"If you t...touch a hair on her head, I'll..."
"Easy there, tiger! Or should I say, dog? Whatever. Look, she's with our second-in-command, Pat. Don't worry. He's probably trying to recruit her into our gang. She has nothing to fear, as long as she accepts, of course," he said with a carefree, wide smile.
I was relieved to hear Maria was okay, but then I realized. If this guy wasn't the second-in-command, yet he had so much respect, how strong was that guy?
"And I'm guessing the sky whale that crash-landed on this moon is yours?"
Ah, the whale! I completely forgot!
"What am I saying? Of course, it's yours! We did pull you and the Lizardian out of it, after all. Too bad you probably won't see it again."
"Where the hell did you put my whale?" I said as I lifted him off his feet and held him right to my face.
"Oh! Now where did this come from? Weren't you stammering just a second ago?" He said, smiling.
I wasn't.
"I'm not joking, dibshit. Where is my damn whale?"
He only looked at me, still smiling. I tried to tighten my grip on him, but all of a sudden, he grabbed my arms.
And even more suddenly, I lost my grip, and he landed back on the ground like it was nothing.
As he walked away, all I could do was look at him, dumbfounded.
"Some ally you got, eh, King?" Oc said to King, who was too shocked to speak. He knew something I soon came to realize. If he wanted to, Dumpty would have killed me right there.
Damn.
How could I hope to be a Mob Boss if this skinny guy who wasn't even half my size treated me like this?
No.
I wasn't gonna stand for it.
"WHERE THE HELL IS MY WHALE!"
"Whoa! Easy now. I like you, dog. You may have killed my brother, but I like you. How about I give you your whale back? Hell, this could be a chance to test your strength. I wanna see if that big body of yours is for show," he said, his grin slowly disappearing.
"What do you mean?" I asked, genuinely confused.
"Beastilia!" He shouted, and immediately she obeyed by stepping forward.
"You want your whale? There it is!" He said as he patted Beastilia's belly, causing her to blush slightly.
"Is this some kind of joke?" I said, still confused but even more angry than I already was.
"Oh... Beastilia, be a dear and show him how much of a joke this is," he said, and Beastilia replied with a wide smile and jumped forward.
"Are...are you sure about this, Dumpty? Shouldn't we just kill them now?" Matt asked, warranting a sudden glare from Dumpty, which immediately turned into a sheepish grin.
"Well, aren't you a spoilsport. Come on! I wanna see how strong this guy is!"
"But his threat level is only 1300! Surely he's not worthy of all this trouble."
"Matt. Check my threat level right now."
Matt then heeded his order by removing his top hat and looking through it. It didn't make sense, I know, since it wasn't see-through.
"W..what the..?! Only 10?!" Matt said in shock.
Everyone opened their mouths in shock except King, who probably knew already.
"Remember, threat levels only judge physical strength. Stuff like speed, intelligence, and other abilities aren't considered. Now let's see what this dog-man is capable of," Dumpty said. Matt put his hat back on and obeyed quietly.
"Beastilia, please do the honors."
She quickly obeyed and placed her hands into her messy, mane-like hair and began to pull it down. It wasn't long till her whole body was covered in hair. Oc and I stared in confusion, but King looked on with more sweat dripping down his face.
Something was happening.
Suddenly, the hair began to multiply, and she turned into a giant hairball the size of a building.
If that wasn't enough, something popped out of the hairball.
A paw?
More specifically, the paw of a dog. A giant one at that. Soon the paw was followed by a large appendage, and soon more followed.
Now the hairball was being lifted up by four dog legs. Giant dog legs.
The hairball soon exploded and covered everywhere in hair. Before we could register what was going on, the hair desaturated, and we finally saw what we were up against.
A giant, 30-foot growling dog.
"What is that?!" Oc screamed, asking the question even I was too dumbfounded to ask.
"That's the work of her Dog DNA Collector. It turns her willpower into Dog DNA and pumps it into her body, turning her into a dog. Or, well, whatever the hell that is," King said, looking at the 30-foot creature in
"King. Explain. Now."
"You see, this is gonna be hard to explain...uh... Some collectors can transform you into stuff using their DNA.
When you turn into those things, whatever you eat gets stored inside you. When you transform back, it's still available for you to use if you transform again. Look, I'm as confused by it as you are, but Collectors aren't even meant to make sense in the first place, so bear with me here."
"What kind of bullshit is that?! So you're saying that this guy's sky-whale or whatever is still inside her belly even though she was just a normal human a minute ago?"
"Seriously?!" Oc shouted at King, who could only respond in silence.
"King. Stand back," I said.
"W..what are you doing?!"
"I'm getting my whale back."
I took a fighting stance, focusing all my energy. This was gonna be tough. Thirty feet of pure canine muscle and who knows what other weird collector powers she had. But my whale was in there. And I wasn't leaving without him.
"Alright, dog-man! Show us what you've got!" Dumpty yelled, his grin wider than ever.
The giant dog lunged, its massive paw slamming into the ground where I was standing a split second before. The force of it sent tremors through the entire area.
I moved to the side, narrowly avoiding another swipe. This thing was fast, surprisingly so for its size.
I shot out a quick punch, aiming for the dog's snout. It barely flinched. My fist connected with its thick fur, feeling like I'd punched a brick wall.
I ducked under another paw swipe and tried to get behind the beast. It spun around quicker than I anticipated, its tail whipping around and knocking me off my feet.
"This is gonna be harder than I thought," I muttered, landing hard on the ground.
The dog charged again, its breath hot and heavy on my face.
I rolled to the left, narrowly avoiding its snapping jaws.
I jumped up, grabbing onto the dog's leg and sinking my teeth into its fur. It roared in pain, thrashing its leg trying to shake me off. I held on tight, determined to make it pay.
The dog slammed its leg against a nearby dome, sending debris flying. I gritted my teeth, refusing to let go. This was my chance.
Using its leg as leverage, I launched myself upwards, aiming for its belly. This was it! My whale was in there, and I was getting him back.
I landed squarely on the dog's soft underbelly, right where I suspected my whale was located. The dog howled in pain, stumbling backwards.
"NOW, WHALE, COME ON OUT!" I yelled, pounding on its belly with my fists.
Suddenly, I felt a familiar rumble. The ground started shaking. Was it an earthquake?
No.
It was coming from inside the dog.
The dog's belly began to expand, stretching its fur to the limit. Then, with a mighty gust of wind, something burst forth.
It was my whale! Soaking wet and a little worse for wear, but it was him!
The whale landed with a thud, creating a small crater. I jumped off the dog and landed beside him, relieved.
"You okay, buddy?" I asked, patting his side.
The whale let out a low groan in response.
The giant dog, now with a gaping hole in its belly, collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.
Dumpty clapped his hands slowly.
"Impressive. I didn't think you'd actually do it. You're stronger than you look."
I glared at him. "I told you, I'm getting my whale back."
"Alright, alright. You've proven your point. You can have your whale back. Just...try not to cause too much trouble, okay?" Dumpty said, his smile returning.
"Trouble? I am trouble," I said, grabbing onto my whale. "Now, let's get out of here."
I looked at King and Oc. "You coming?"
King nodded eagerly.
Oc hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and followed.
As we walked away, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning. We had a long way to go before I could call myself a Mob Boss. But I had my to get my whale back.
And that was a start.
The end...FOR NOW!